Aging-US: Iron: an underrated factor in aging

10-25-2021

Aging-US published "Iron: an underrated factor in aging" which reported that iron is an essential element for virtually all living organisms, but its reactivity also makes it potentially harmful. Blocking iron absorption through drugs or natural products extends lifespan.

Dr. Dennis Mangan from MTOR LLC in Bakersfield California said, "All life forms require the element iron as a constituent of their biochemical systems, iron being used in producing ATP in mitochondria, in cytochromes and hemoglobin, and in many other uses."

Iron is essential for organismal growth and maintenance, so all life, from bacteria and algae to mammals, have developed the means to collect and store iron from their environments; this centrality of iron for all life suggests that iron may be involved in aging.

Most organisms, including humans, have no systematic means of ridding themselves of excess iron. A problem that organisms face in the use of iron in biological systems is protecting cells from iron damage. The very property of iron that makes it useful, its ability to accept or donate electrons, also gives it the ability to damage molecules and organelles via the Fenton reaction, in which iron reacts with hydrogen peroxide, leading to the formation of the highly reactive and toxic free radical, hydroxyl.

In theory, these storage proteins should be enough to protect organelles and macromolecules from iron’s reactivity, but in practice another process becomes perhaps more important, and that is iron dysregulation. Storage proteins such as ferritin can themselves be damaged, leading to «leakage» of free iron, which can then react with and damage cellular structures, which in turn can lead to organ damage and the deterioration associated with aging.

Iron, which can then react with and damage cellular structures, which in turn can lead to organ damage and the deterioration associated with aging

The Mangan Research Team concluded in their Aging-US Research Output, "iron satisfies many of the conditions we might look for in a universally pro-aging substance. It accumulates with age; it is associated with many age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease; it catalyzes the formation of cellular junk molecules and helps to prevent their turnover; removal of iron from plasma may be rejuvenating; and people with lower levels of body iron – blood donors – have a lower mortality rate.

Iron is intimately associated with aging, and control of body iron stores may be an important way to extend human lifespan."

Full Text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/203612/text

Correspondence to: Dennis Mangan email: pdmangan@outlook.com

Keywords: iron, aging, oxidative stress, calorie restriction, plasma dilution

About Aging-US:

Aging publishes research papers in all fields of aging research including but not limited, aging from yeast to mammals, cellular senescence, age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s diseases and their prevention and treatment, anti-aging strategies and drug development and especially the role of signal transduction pathways such as mTOR in aging and potential approaches to modulate these signaling pathways to extend lifespan. The journal aims to promote treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.

Aging is indexed by PubMed/Medline (abbreviated as “Aging (Albany NY)”), PubMed CentralWeb of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded (abbreviated as “Aging‐US” and listed in the Cell Biology and Geriatrics & Gerontology categories), Scopus (abbreviated as “Aging” and listed in the Cell Biology and Aging categories), Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science).

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